CF Brain Bowl team to compete against Ivy League schools

In just a few weeks, the College of Central Florida's Brain Bowl team will be in uncharted territory, competing in Chicago for the first time in the national intercollegiate championship.

By Joe CallahanStaff writer

In just a few weeks, the College of Central Florida's Brain Bowl team will be in uncharted territory: competing in Chicago for the first time in the national intercollegiate championship.CF will compete on April 13 in the Division II tournament — for freshmen/sophomore teams only — against powerhouses Harvard, Yale and MIT. The events are known as National Academic Quiz Tournaments, or NAQT.There's a separate intercollegiate tournament on the same day for Division I, which is for teams with juniors, seniors and grad students.The CF team, known as the "red" team, advanced by finishing in the top six at the national community college tournament in St. Louis.Darrell Riley, a history professor who coaches the team along with humanities professor Jim Meier, said competitions require team members to answer questions quickly on their feet.A moderator reads an equal number of questions in four subject areas: humanities, mathematics, natural science and social sciences.A buzzer system is used to identify the player who buzzes in first. After 44 questions, the team with the most points wins.The Red Team members are Bernard Domeisen, Brittney Burleson, Stetson Cooper, Sean Fitzpatrick and Zachary Cooper. Riley said most expenses for the trip are covered by CF activity fees. He said team members get performance grants, very similar to scholarships, for competing.Two CF teams qualified for the national community college tournament by placing high in a sectional event called the NAQT South Florida Sectional Tournament. It was held in January in Bradenton. The Red Team tied for first, and CF's White Team finished fourth.Riley said while the team is in Chicago he hopes the members will get a chance to visit a few of the city's landmarks and taste its cuisine."I hope to take them for a deep-dish pizza," said Riley, who thanked the CF administration and Marjorie McGee, the school's director of student life, for supporting the team.Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or at joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.